Memory can also be manipulated using the standard C library functions (malloc, free, etc.). With previous versions of Windows, these functions had potential dangers that do not exist for Win32. For example, malloc allocates a fixed pointer that did not allow the memory management advantages of movable memory. With virtual memory, this is no longer a problem. Similarly, the confusions around near and far pointers are no longer relevant. So unless you want to allocate discardable memory, it is reasonable to use the standard C library functions.